Mzansi staying single as fewer couples are cohabiting, getting married in South Africa
The number of people who have never been married has increased substantially in South Africa, while the number of people getting married is declining along with people cohabiting — the concept of vat en sit.
This is revealed in the Census 2022 data, which shows that people who have never married went up from 54% in 2011 to 62.2% in 2022, while the number of those married went down from 29.9% in 2011 to 24% in 2022, and those cohabiting went down from 9.2% in 2011 to 7.8% in 2022.
In terms of couples who were separated but still legally married, there was a slight decrease from 0.8% in 2011 to 0.4% in 2022, a slight increase in divorce from 1.5% in 2011 to 1.6% in 2022, and widowed couples decreased from 4.6% in 2011 to 4%.
Put simply:
– Six out of 10 people in South Africa are not married
– Two out of 10 people in the country are legally married
– Less than one out of every 10 people is cohabiting or living together with a partner
– Less than one out of every 10 people is either widowed, separated, or divorced.
The data showed that Black/Africans had the highest share of people never married, with 68%, and the least who were married, with 19.2%. In terms of cohabitation, it was most prevalent among this group, with 8.1% staying together while unmarried. Black/Africans had the lowest divorce rate, at 1% and 3.4% were widowed.
Almost half of the Coloured population - 52.7%, were never married, 3 out of every 10 were married, 5.6% were widowed and 7.7% were cohabiting.
Among white people, more than half - 54.8% - were married, one in four were single or never married, 6.1% were not married but living with a partner, while 5.7% were divorced - the highest amongst the population groups. A further 7.3% were widowed.
For Asian/Indian people, 37% were yet to marry, 48.5% were married, 3.2% were cohabiting, 3.1% were divorced and 7.5% were widowed.
MARRIAGE CAPITAL
The Census 2022 data showed that from the two out of every 10 South Africans who were married, the Western Cape had the highest proportion of married people in the country - with 33.8%.
In the Western Cape, three out of every 10 people were married, while the province also had the highest proportion of divorced people in the country, at 3%.
The divorce rate in the Western Cape was almost double the national average of 1.6%.
In Gauteng, 25% of people were married, while the data showed that people in KZN and Mpumalanga, 19.8% and 19.3%, respectively, were least likely to marry. Both provinces also had the highest number of people who never married, at 70.9% and 67.9%, respectively.
VAT EN SIT LEADERS
In terms of cohabiting, Gauteng had the highest prevalence of unmarried couples living together without being married, with 10.7%. This was followed by the Free State with 9.6%, the Northern Cape with 9%, the North West and Mpumalanga with 8.7%, Limpopo with 8.3%, the Western Cape with 7.8%, KZN with 4.8%, and the Eastern Cape had the lowest levels of vat en sit with 4%.
FUN FACTS
About 69.5% of South Africa’s 62 million population were people under the age of 40. This amounts to about 43 million people under the age of 40. Around 15 million of the 43 million people under the age of 40 were under the age of 15.
Census 2022 data shows that the median age in South Africa is 28, with the median age of black/Africans being 27 (21 in 2011), coloured people 30 (26 in 2011), Indian people 37 (32 in 2011), and white people 45 (38 in 2011). This means the white population is ageing. In 1996, the median age for the country was 22, 25 in 2011.
At 31, the Western Cape has the oldest median age in the country, while Limpopo, at 26, was the youngest. The median age for the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, North West, and Mpumalanga was 27, the Free State and KZN were 28, while Gauteng was 30.
About seven out of 10 South Africans have access to flushing toilets at home.
More than nine out of 10 people in South Africa have access to and rely on electricity to cook.
More than nine out of 10 people in South Africa own a cellphone, while a further six out of 10 rely on the cellphone to access the internet. Two out of 10 have no access to the internet.
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